


The Writer

by Lokisgame



Series: To have and to hold [31]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: AU, Alternate Ending, Book Spoilers, Cancer Arc, Crossover, F/M, Heavy Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-02-08
Packaged: 2018-09-22 13:12:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9608948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lokisgame/pseuds/Lokisgame
Summary: He slid slowly to the floor, folding in on himself next to the door to her room.Mulder meets Ted Fullilove.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> No copyright infringement intended.

He sank slowly to the floor, folding in on himself next to her hotel room door. Legs drawn close to his chest, arms crossed on his knees, face hidden, only a slight tremor in his shoulders betrayed silent sobs shook his body.  
Right next to where he sat, on the other side of the wall, she slept, faint trace of blood smeared on her face.  
She told him she was fine. That it's just a nosebleed. She refused his offer of comfort and help.  
She was dying.  
She was fine.  
He was not.  
A fresh wave of silent sobs shook his frame. He collapsed in on himself, forgetting who and where he was. Fighting to keep quiet as his mind chanted mercilessly "she's going to die, she's going to die, she'd dying, she's dying" over and over and over again. He sat on the edge of a panic attack, his breathing coming in shallow pants, but forced himself to remain quiet. 

The elevator door chimed and a man stepped out, small gym bag in hand, hair still wet from a late night visit to the hotel swimming pool. He crossed the floor and stopped before a door across the hall from where a young man was sitting on the floor, curled up against the wall.  
"Son, is everything alright?" The man didn't answer, too far gone to notice. He crouched next to him and tried again, hand on his shoulder.  
"Son?"That got his attention, his head shot up showing tears rolling down his face, mouth twisted in unimaginable pain "Do you need help?"  
The man choked out a low half-laugh half-sob and croaked "I'm fine" a new wave of tears flowed and he hid his face back in his arms.  
Ted sighed and sat next to him leaning against the wall, silently wishing his wife was here, she'd know how to handle a situation like this. All he could do was what little he learned from her over the years. Sometimes silent presence was all one could give. He waited for the younger man to calm down, before he asked again.  
"Are you sure you're alright?" The shaking sobs haven't returned for some time and the kid's breathing was steadier. He looked like a kid, couldn't be older than thirty five. He looked like a kid who lost someone, Ted knew the feeling all too well.  
"I don't know if I'll ever be" the Kid answered, as if to himself.  
"That bad, huh?" Ted asked, a little too crass and that finally shocked him back to the light. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and glanced at Ted, who noticed a few drops of something that looked like blood on the sleeve of his shirt "are you hurt?"  
The Kid noticed the blood and shook his head "that's not my blood"  
"Should I call the cops then?" The situation was getting weirder by the second.  
"I am the cops" said the Kid, but didn't elaborate, complete lack of urgency in his answer made Ted wonder. Why was he sitting on the hallway floor in a blood stained shirt, crying as if he just lost his mom, yet did nothing cop-like about it. This had to be personal.  
"It's my partner" the Kid said quietly "she's sick, it's complicated."  
"Cop kind of partner or something more?" Ted asked.  
"It's a long story"  
"With a happy ending?" Ted suspected the answer wouldn't be simple either.  
"I don't know, I'm not ready for it to end." The Kid hung his head, as if about to slip back into darkness. "I don't think I'll ever be ready."   
"You know what they say, if it's not a happy ending it's not the end of the story. Maybe she's not ready to finish it either." Ted looked at the Kid and his heart broke a little.   
"You want my advice?" He asked tentatively "Don't wait. Don't wait to tell her."  
He got up and reached out to help the Kid, who took his hand and allowed himself to be pulled up of the floor. They looked at each other, and Ted took a deep breath to clear his thoughts.  
"Take care of her" he shook the Kid's hand and paused for a second, waiting.  
"Mulder" the Kid said "Fox Mulder"  
"Ted Fullilove"  
"Like the author?" Mulder smiled for the first time, but it was a small, sad smile.  
"Good luck" Ted smiled back neither confirming nor denying and unlocked the door to his room, leaving the young man to write the ending of his story.


	2. Chapter 2

Mulder left Scully at the hair salon, taking Will with him to give her some time to relax and make herself pretty. She was beautiful no matter how her hair looked like, but who was he to deny his pregnant wife her pleasure. 

They strolled through the streets, window shopping. Will made him stop by the pet shop to look at exotic fish, laugh at two hamsters fighting for a spot inside the running wheel. They teased a parrot when it turned out it can talk. The bird kept screaming "Molly!" What must have been the shop owners name.  
Finally Will got hungry and they decided to sit down for a minute. Mulder ordered black coffee and chocolate ice cream for Will and they took a table outside the coffee shop to rest for a bit. It was a beautiful autumn day in DC, a perfect Saturday morning.  
Still, when they got up to leave, Will reached out his arms, cookie in one hand saying "Daddy, up!" and Mulder scooped him into his arms, settling him on his hip.  
"Where to now?" He asked absently looking around and spotting a small crowd gathered in front of a book store on the other side of the street. "I wonder what's going on over there" he turned and nodded in the direction of the store, so that Will could see what he meant "wanna check it out?"  
Mulder took his silence for consent, the kid devoted all of his three-year-old attention to the cookie in hand.  
They crossed the street and read the sign announcing the event _"Meet The Author: L.F. Fullilove"_ The sign promised a reading from his classic novel and book signing.  
Mulder loved "The Doublemint Men" and smiled at the memory of one night years ago, when a stranger in a hotel hallway offered him a few words of comfort in what seemed the darkest time of his life. Back then he had a hard time believing the stranger was indeed who he said he was, but it was a safe bet that there weren't that many Fullilove's in the US. He felt for the guy in a way because he rarely found anyone with a name more bizarre than his own. 

Mulder quickly texted Scully so she'd know where to find them and sat in the back of the room with Will in his lap. He listened as the author read a chapter from the book, which apparently got reissued recently, and answered a few questions from the audience. Someone must have had a feeling because the Sox finally had a chance at winning this year.  
Mulder picked up a copy and together with Will, they waited in line to have the book signed. They looked through books and played "I spy" killing time until it was their turn to approach the table. 

"Hello" Ted smiled at the man and the child in his arms "who should I dedicate this to, you or the little fella here?" He asked. The young father looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite put the face to a place where he saw it.  
"Fox and Will Mulder" the young man said and a light flicked on inside Ted's head.  
"I know you, Boston, hotel hallway" the younger man smiled and nodded.  
Ted remembered the name, it wasn't often he met someone with a name as weird as his own. The Kid, his grief, Ted thought about him for some time after that night, the encounter bringing some of his own memories back.  
"So is this the happy ending you were looking for?" He asked opening the book and signing it with a flourish.  
"Sort of" Mulder replied glancing at Will who had fallen asleep in his arms. The kid would sleep though alien apocalypse "I've learned some things since then"  
"Like what?" Ted smiled, happy for the guy, happy that his life turned around.  
"Every ending, is really just a beginning of something new"  
"Very true"  
He handed him the book and watched as Fox Mulder walked away to greet a pretty red haired woman, visibly pregnant and definitely the mother of the boy in his arms. He gave her the book, kissed her and they left the store holding hands, as Ted wished them a silent good luck once again.

**Author's Note:**

> Had this idea for a long time now. My personal headcanon is that Mulder kept "The Doublemint Men" on his nightstand, even if he was a NY Yankees fan.  
> If you haven't read "Bucky F*cking Dent" by David Duchovny this probably meant nothing to you. If you did, and it still reads like crap, then I appologize. I'll go look for some trouble and get back to you once I'm released from prison. Thank you for reading.


End file.
